Carnegie Forum On Social Inequality

In 2000, Carnegie Corpor-ation of New York partnered with the Russell Sage Foundation to explore a topic high on America’s agenda: income inequality and the social impact of this growing inequity. The foundations commissioned forty-eight social scientists organized into six working groups to examine whether the recent increases in economic inequality have, in fact, exacerbated social inequities of the kind that might make the widening gap between rich and poor Americans difficult to reverse.

The first phase of that research is complete, and was published recently in the report Social Inequality (Russell Sage Foundation, 2004), edited by Kathryn M. Neckerman, associate director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University.

On August 12, 2004, Carnegie Corporation of New York and its president, Vartan Gregorian, hosted a Forum on Social Inequality featuring some of the key researchers who contributed to this first publication presenting their findings. “We think the time is ripe—now, when the country is focused on the kinds of national concerns that challenge us every four years—to bring the insights and policy implications detailed in the report to the forefront of our national discussions,” Gregorian told the forum.

Eric Wanner, president of the Russell Sage Foundation, led a panel discussion by three of the scholars who worked on the project: Larry M. Bartels, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University (Bartels is also a 2004 Carnegie Scholar); Barbara L. Wolfe, Institute of Poverty Research, University of Wisconsin; and Jane Waldfogel, School of Social Work, Columbia University.

In opening remarks, Wanner said, “The United States has been through an inequality shock over the past few years and this economic trend will have important social consequences.” Wanner explained that the four-year-long research project sought to examine specific areas of society—education, politics, work and family—and to understand the dynamic effects that income inequality had on each sector. “In each social domain,” he said, “we asked how the lives of the rich and poor changed over the last three decades, as economic inequality rose. Did inequality in family structure and investments in children, in educational quality and opportunity, in health care and outcomes, in job quality and satisfaction with work, in political participation and influence, and in many other aspects of social life become more or less pronounced?”

The answer, in all cases, seems to be that economic equality—which has risen sharply since the late 1970s when the United States experienced a series of economic shocks, such as stagflation, along with demographic changes—seems to be having both lasting and debilitating effects on our nation. Access to education, to satisfying and economically rewarding employment, to decent housing—to so many of the benefits that we hope and believe should be available to those who play by the rules—remain out of reach of the economically disadvantaged. Income is one important indicator of these disparities: according to Social Inequality, “From 1979 to 2002, families in the top fifth of the income distribution increased their share of the national income from 44 percent to just under 50 percent, with almost all of this gain going to families in the top 5 percent. Every other quintile lost income share…the bottom fifth of all American families saw their meager share of national income decline from 4.3 percent to 3.5 percent.”

The Carnegie Forums comprise an occasional series of working luncheons and roundtable discussions that focus on national and international issues. An essential component of these events are the comments and questions from the audience of academic and policy leaders, foundation colleagues and journalists. This forum helped launch what both the Corporation and Russell Sage Foundation hope will create a deeper understanding of the consequences of social inequality and the role policy plays in narrowing the gaps of inequality.

Vartan Gregorian Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

On June 23, 2004 Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, was one of thirteen individuals awarded the 2004 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civil award. Established in 1945 by President Harry Truman, the award is given each year by the president of the United States to distinguished leaders for service in a range of disciplines. In the White House announcement, Gregorian was recognized as a scholar and historian, for his work in revitalizing the New York Public Library, for his years of service as a professor and leader at six universities in the United States and for his philanthropic endeavors.

“It is a great tribute to Vartan who is a teacher’s teacher, a scholar’s scholar and a philanthropist’s philanthropist,” said Helene Kaplan, chairman of the board of trustees of Carnegie Corporation. “To be recognized for a lifetime’s work can be daunting, but what we on the Corporation’s board know only too clearly, is that no honor will slow down the vitality and creativity of Vartan. He has taken the subjects and skills he has mastered at each job and brought them to the foundation in a way that has made the Corporation a powerhouse of ideas and possibilities. It is wonderful to see the White House recognize his life’s work and his continuing contributions.”

“This is wonderful choice by President Bush,” said Governor Thomas Kean, immediate past chair of the Corporation’s board of trustees. “It reveals a deep respect for the role of a scholar in public life and recognizes the great importance of both universities and libraries to America. Vartan has been honored by both the academic and library community many times, and this Medal of Freedom honors not only Vartan personally, but also, both communities whose work is vital to our nation.”

Gregorian was named the president of Carnegie Corpor-ation of New York in 1997 and joined as the twelfth president after serving for nine years at president of Brown University. As president and chief executive officer of the New York Public Library before that, Gregorian is credited with returning the fabled city institution to its international esteem and grandeur. Gregorian is an historian and teacher who recently authored Islam: A Mosaic Not a Monolith, (Brookings Institution Press, 2003) and his autobiography The Road to Home (Simon & Schuster, 2003). He has won numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the highest award of the American Library Association, its honorary membership.

Gregorian is the third president of Carnegie Corporation of New York to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. John Gardner was awarded the medal in 1964 and David Hamburg in 1995.

This year, the other recipients of the Medal were: Robert L. Bartley, the late conservative journalist, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal and Pulitzer Prize-winner; Edward W. Brooke, first African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, a Republican who represented Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979; Doris Day, singer and icon on the American movie screen; Gilbert M. Grosvenor, chairman of the National Geographic Society; Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Pope John Paul II; Estee Lauder, the late cosmetics pioneer; Rita Moreno, Grammy-, Tony- and Emmy-award winning actress; Arnold Palmer, winner of 92 golf championships; Arnall Patz, a world-renowned ophthalmologist and researcher of eye disease whose breakthrough work has helped prevent blindness; Norman Podhoretz, neoconservative author and longtime editor of Commentary, the American Jewish Committee magazine; and Walter B. Wriston, former chairman and chief executive of Citibank and chairman of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board.